Different
by Kitten With A Tie
Summary: What if Firestar was Clan-born? What if Spottedleaf became a warrior? What if Dustpelt didn't become a pedophile? What if Hollyleaf survived the Dark Forest attack?


**Firestar and Greystripe are the kits of Nutmeg and Jake, which makes them both half-kittypet.**

**Sandstorm's mother is the same, and Dustpelt's mother is the same.**

**Spottedleaf became a warrior, not a medicine cat.**

**This all takes place in the lake territories, shortly after the Dark Forest battle.**

_Firekit felt paws poking _at the side of his pelt. Growling, he opened his forest green eyes and shoved his brother off of him. "Get off me, Greykit!" His brother grinned, yellow eyes glowing in the dark light of the nursery.

"Greykit." his mother's warm purr filled his ears. Firekit turned his head and looked at his mother, who smiled warmly, her green eyes shininig with affection. The tom turned his head and flattened his ears and crouched down.

"You know better," she scolded. "Your apprentice ceremony is today." Greykit shuffled his paws. She groomed Greykit, while Firekit rolled around in the moss. "Having fun, _kittypet?_"

A sneering mew filled his ears, and Firekit turned his head to see a pale ginger she-cat looking at him, with a brown tabby kit standing beside her.

Both the kits had scornful looks on their faces. "Sandkit!" meowed Firekit, rolling onto his paws. "Dustkit! Do you want to play too?"

Dustkit wrinkled his nose. "_Play_?" he repeated. "With _you_?" Firekit nodded. Dustkit let out a low hiss. "Why would I want to play with you?" he growled. "You're a kittypet! I don't want to be covered with your filthy Twoleg scent."

Firekit tilted his head. The brown kit was using too many words he didn't know what meant, so he turned to his mother.

"Nutmeg," he mewed, "what is a kittypet? And a twoleg?" Nutmeg stiffened. "That isn't important," she mewed quickly.

Her ears perked as the call of Bramblestar filled their ears. "Time to go. Oh, you look lovely, my dears." Firekit stuck his nose in the air and padded out of the den, tail high. Greykit bounded after him.

Cats were already flooding into the clearing and taking spots underneath the highledge. Bramblestar was standing on the ledge, muscles rippling beneath his thick pelt.

Countless scars were on his face, and Firekit knew they were from battles. Firekit looked at his pelt. The only scar he had was on his nose, and it was only from when he and Greykit were scuffling too hard.

"Today we gather to appoint four new apprentices," he meowed. Firekit admired how he spoke; loud and clear, and ever cat listened and didn't challenge any of his orders.

"Greykit, Dustkit, Sandkit, and Firekit." At once, Firekit scrambled to his paws and started to bound to the highledge, but a brown and sand colored pelt shoved by. Firekit scowled as Dustkit and Sandkit climbed swiftly onto the highledge and glared down at them, their eyes shining with hatred.

Firekit immediatly jumped up, his paws barely gripping the smooth rock. Greykit jumped right past, and Firekit's pelt got hot as he stood beside his brother. "I, Bramblestar, leader of ThunderClan, call apon StarClan to watch above these apprentices as they grow and become mighty warriors. May the warrior code guide them along their journey to serving their Clan for many, many moons. Sandkit." He beckoned the ginger kit with one swift flick of his tail.

She stepped forward, her green eyes shining with excitement. "Until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Sandpaw." He touched his nose to her forehead, and Sandpaw licked her shoulder.

Firekit waited impatiently as Bramblestar repeated the same words over and over again until he meowed, "Firekit." The ginger tom hesitantly stepped forward. "I, Bramblestar, leader of ThunderClan, call apon StarClan to watch this apprentice as he goes through training as an apprentice. You shall be Firepaw until you recieve your warrior name." He touched his nose to Firepaw's forehead.

Firepaw felt as if he had all the power in the world. And all that power was in him. He licked Bramblestar's shoulder. "Hollyleaf." The black she-cat looked up, her green eyes wide. Firekit remembered the battle against the Dark Forest; she had a long scar on her neck to prove it.

"You shall be Firepaw's mentor." Hollyleaf padded through the crowd. A few cats were looking at her, eyes narrowed. She took no notice and jumped on the highledge with one leap.

"I will teach Firepaw everything I know," she promised, and licked Firepaw's nose. Bramblestar waved his tail as the two cats leaped off the highledge. "ShadowClan have been straying dangerously close to the border," he growled. "Hollyleaf, Brackenfur, and Cloudtail." He looked at the three cats. "Take your apprentices down there and take a look." With that he padded into his den, Squirrelflight following.

"You're lucky," complained Sandpaw, who watched Spiderleg chat with Birchfall. Her mentor seemed to not mind not going down to the ShadowClan border. Firepaw did though, shuffle his paws. He heard that Birchfall had trained in the Dark Forest, and was glad he didn't have the dangerous warrior as his mentor.

"What's wrong, kittypet?" jeered Sandpaw. "Scared of the forest?" Firepaw glanced at Birchfall. The brown tom was stretching, showing off the strong muscles that were rippling beneath his pelt.

"Birchfall was training in the Dark Forest," he hissed. "Why do you want him as your mentor?"  
"He might teach me Dark Forest moves!" Sandpaw pounced on a leaf. "So that means that I'll be unstoppable in battle! ShadowClan warriors will fear me!" Firepaw snorted. "Fear _you_? You're not much bigger then a fox cub."

Sandpaw turned on him. "You'll be remembered as that one cat whose parents ate kittypet slop and let Twolegs scratch their chins!" Firepaw spat angrily and crouched down, prepared to defend his kittpet heritage, even though he didn't know what a kittypet or a Twoleg was.

"What are you two arguing about?" Cloudtail padded up to them, placing his tail in between the two apprentices. "She called me a kittypet!" Firepaw growled. "And I don't know what that is!"

"A kittypet is a cat who lives with Twolegs," Cloudtail explained. "Twoleg?" Firepaw tilted his head.

"A Twoleg is a pink, furless creature who walks on two legs," he explained. "Pink? Furless? Yuck!" Cloudtail touched his tail to Firepaw's nose. "My mother was a kittypet."

"Cloudtail!" Hollyleaf was calling for him. "Firepaw! Dustpaw!" Brackenfur had said his goodbyes to Spiderleg before trotting over to Hollyleaf.

"Gotta go. Have fun checking the elders for ticks!" Sandpaw swatted at him, and Firepaw grinned before trotting over to his mentor. Hollyleaf nodded and the cats left the tunnel.

Firepaw was walking behind Hollyleaf, and didn't notice Dustpaw pad up beside him. "Having fun on your first day of being a apprentice, kittypet?" Firepaw growled. "I am not a kittypet!"

"Yes you are! Your parents were kittypets, so that means your _half-Clan_!" Firepaw had enough and pounced on Dustpaw. The brown tabby let out a yowl of surprise and tried to throw Firepaw off, but the ginger tom sunk his teeth into Dustpaw's shoulder.

Dustpaw wailed and tried to dislodge him, squirming in the leaves, covering both of the toms with the musty scent. "Get off!" Hollyleaf grabbed Firepaw's tail and pulled him off of Dustpaw. "You fight like a kittypet too!" Dustpaw jeered weakly.

Firepaw hissed and clawed at him, but he was too far away. Hollyleaf dropped him and glared into his eyes. "Never do that again," she hissed. "Unless its an enemy warrior. Go on without us," she added to the patrol, who had been watching the two apprentices with surprise.

"What? No!" Firepaw jumped to his paws. "I want to patrol the WindClan border!"  
"Then maybe you shouldn't have tried to remove Dustpaw's fur." Hollyleaf retorted. "But..." Firepaw started to whine, but he swallowed it and frowned, glaring at his paws. "Stop pouting." The ginger tom glared at Hollyleaf.

He expected Hollyleaf to be a cool mentor, since she used to live in the tunnels, but now he realized how boring and mean she was.

Firepaw continued to pout, ignoring Hollyleaf as she started to speak. Suddenly paws slammed into his side, and he turned, eyes wide, into Hollyleaf's penetrating green gaze.

"Do I have your attention?" He nodded slowly. Firepaw got up, scooting away from his mentor. "Now, I'll begin with the first rule of the warrior code," Hollyleaf meowed. "You cannot eat until the Clan has eaten. That is the very first one. Next is..."

Firepaw interrupted her. "This is boring! When do we get to fight ShadowClan warriors?" He pounced into the air and twisted, landing on his side. His shoulder ached with pain, but he got to his paws.

"The warrior code is more important then fighting warriors!" she snapped. "Without the warrior code, we are just rogues." Firepaw flattened his ears. _Is that all she talks about? The warrior code? _

"Can we please practice?" he begged. "No," Hollyleaf replied coldly. "I haven't finished telling you the warrior code." She continued her lecture, and Firepaw sighed. For some reason, being a warrior seemed farther away.


End file.
